Means to rotate spherical plug valve

ABSTRACT

A spherical plug valve structure includes a valve ball mounted on opposed trunnions and having an offset gear drive for rotation of the valve ball. The offset gear drive is mounted internally of the valve body and includes a segment gear mounted on the outer surface of the valve ball in offset relation to the axis of rotation. A pinion engages the segment gear and has a drive shaft extending through the valve body to a suitable external power drive source. The pinion and drive shaft are detachably connected to the valve body and may be easily removed. The trunnions on which the valve ball is mounted for rotation may also be easily removed.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,776,507

Tomlin et al. Dec. 4, 1973 54] MEANS T0 ROTATE SPHERICAL PLUG 3,194,5347/1965 Sachnik 251/287 x VALVE FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [75]Inven r Jerry B- T mlin, H n; John 587,497 11/1959 Canada 251 249.5

Helenberg, La Porte, both of Tex.

[73] Assignee: ACF Industries, Incorporated, New

York, NY.

[22] Filed: Dec. 15, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 208,249

Primary ExaminerEdga.r W. Geoghegan Attorney-Eugene N. Riddle [5 7]ABSTRACT A spherical plug valve structure includes a valve ball mountedon opposed trunnions and having an offset gear drive for rotation of thevalve ball. The ofi'set 5|. 2s1/2 ;1,61k3;/l3};; g drive is mountedinternally of the valve y and 58 Field of Search 251/248, 249.5, 250.5,a gear T' the Surface 2 of the valve ball In offset relatlon to the axisof rota- Ion. A pInIon engages the segment gear and has a 56] ReferencesCited dr1ve shaft extendlng through the valve bodv to a sultableexternal power drlve source. The pInIon and UNITED STATES PATENTS driveshaft are detachably connected to the valve body 2,917,273 12/1959 Best251/269 X and may be easily removed The trunnions on which 7771372 12/1904 Howard 251/248 x the valve ball is mounted for rotation may also beeas- 7s3,007 2 1905 Allen et a1. 251/248 x Hy removw 2,064,765 12/1936Powell et a1. 251/250.5 X 3,064,938 11/1962 Knox 251/249.5 X 5 Claims, 4Drawing Figures I rUI' r- J mo '1 I 1 1 93 -90 I 74 I00 84 4o r21 4m 70f s so [04 44 10B *5 72. ms 6 7s /0 lab PATENTEDDEC M973 II I llI SHEET3 OF 3 MEANS TO ROTATE SPHERICAL PLUG VALVE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONHeretofore, various types of valves have been provided with internaldrive mechanisms for rotating a valve member. Such prior drivearrangements have generally been provided with direct drives connectedto a shaft in alignment with the axis of rotation of the valve member. Adirect drive is usually limited in obtaining a large mechanicaladvantage and as a result, a relatively large operator is necessary forrotation of the valve member. Further, direct drive gear mechanisms thatare mounted within the valve body cavity require a relatively largeamount of space in which to be mounted and usually require a speciallymade valve body for housing the gear mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present ball valve structure isdirected to an offset drive means for the valve ball with the drivemeans being connected to the exterior of the valve ball for rotating thevalve ball about opposed trunnions. The offset drive means is housedwithin the normal valve body cavity between the valve body and valveball without any enlarged valve body for the drive means. A relativelyhigh mechanical advantage is obtained by the offset drive means and thispermits a relatively small external operator or power source forrotating the valve ball. For example, the torque requirements forrotating the valve ball may be reduced between around 300 and 500percent depending on the particular mechanical advantage desired. Theball valve structure of the present invention is particularly adaptedfor relatively large diameter valves having a flow passage greater thanaround 12 inches in diameter.

The offset drive means includes a sector gear mounted on the exterior ofthe valve ball and a pinion within the valve body cavity engaging thesector gear. A housing is detachably connected to the valve body andextends through an opening in the valve body. The housing receives thepinion shaft and is of a diameter greater than the pinion to permitwithdrawal of the pinionupon removal of the housing from the valve bodysuch as might be required for repair or the like. The housing alsoincludes a support base on which a power source, such as an electricalmotor, is mounted for driving the pinion and the associated valve ball.

The valve ball is a cast structure and is symmetrical which permits adesirable casting operation. The trunnions on which the valve ball ismounted are detachably connected to the valve body to permit easyremoval thereof and opposed bores in the valve ball receive thetrunnions. A suitable stop is provided on the valve body to engage andposition the valve ball in the open and closed positions thereof.

The invention accordingly comprises the constructions hereinafterdescribed, the scope of the invention being indicated in the followingclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one of various possibleembodiments of the invention is illustrated,

FIG. 1 is a top plan of the ball valve structure comprising the presentinvention showing the valve ball in an open position;

FIG. 2 is a top plan similar to FIG. 1 but indicating the valve ballrotated 90 to the closed position;

FIG. 3 is a section taken generally along line 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a section taken generally along line 4-4 of FIG. 1 showing apinion in engagement with the sector gear on the valve ball.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of thisinvention, a ball valve structure indicated generally at 10 has a valvebody 12 defining the valve chamber or body cavity 14. Valve body 12 hasan upstream flow passage 16 and a downstream flow passage 18. Flowpassages 16 and 18 are aligned and are connected to a suitable fluidconduit (not shown). The outer end portions of valve body 12 may beprovided with external screw threads to provide a connection for valvestructure 10 in a flow system, as well known in the art.

Positioned in body cavity 14 is a rotatable valve ball 20 havingspherical annular seating surfaces 22 and 24 and a flow passage 25 inalignment with flow passages 16 and 18 in the open position of valveball 20. Mounted adjacent opposed ends of valve ball 20 are upstreamsealing member 26 and downstream sealing member 28 which are annular andadapted to fit against respective seats 22 and 24 of valve ball 20.Sealing members 26 and 28 may be pressure actuated, that is, the sealingmembers are mounted for limited longitudinal movement relative to valveball 20 and may be urged by fluid pressure against seats 22 and 24 toprovide a tight seal between valve ball 20 and sealing members 26 and28. Sealing members 26 and 28 have a plastic insert 30 which extendsbeyond the adjacent face of the associated sealing member and forms asealing surface for contact with the adjacent seating surface 22 or 24on valve ball 20. A suitable insert may be polytetrafluoroethylene, soldunder the trademark Teflon which provides a very desirable insert sinceit has an exceedingly low coefficient of friction and is inert to mostladings.

Valve ball 20, before addition of the drive means, is symmetrical andhas external ribs 31 thereon. Opposed lower and upper bores 32 and 34 inopposed ends of valve ball 20 receive respective lower and uppertrunnions 36 and 38. Lower and upper trunnions 36, 38 are generallyidentical and are removably attached by suitable studs 40 to valve body12. Lubricant bores 42 extend through trunnions 36 and 38 to valve ball34 and suitable fittings 44 are in communication with bores 42. Rollerbearings 48 and 50 are mounted between trunnions 36, 38 and valve ball20 to reduce friction therebetween upon rotation of valve ball 20.

As shown in FIG. 3, a drain bore 52 may be provided in valve body 12 topermit the removal of fluids from valve cavity 14. A drain plug 54 fordrain bore 52 may be removed for drainage of any fluid from body cavity14.

Mounted on the outer portion of valve ball 20 offset from adjacenttrunnion 38 is a segment gear generally indicated 60 secured by suitablestuds 62 and having teeth 64 along an outer edge thereof. A housing 66is received within opening 68 in valve body 12 and is detachablyconnected by studs 70 to valve body 12. Mounted'for rotation in bearingsleeves 72, 74 within housing 66 is pinion shaft 76 having pinion 78 atits lower end in engagement with sector gear 60. The upper portion ofhousing 66 has a support base 80 thereon.

The diameter of pinion 78 is less than the diameter of opening 68 andhousing 66. Thus, upon removal of studs 70 from valve body 12, housing66 with pinion shaft 76 and pinion 78 may be bodily removed from valvebody 12 thereby permitting repair of pinion 78. A lubricant fitting 82is provided to permit lubrication of rotating pinion shaft 76. Anelectric motor 84 provides a suitable power source and may be connectedto a suitable source of electrical energy (not shown). An output driveshaft 86 from motor 84 has a spur gear 88 thereon in mesh with spur gear90 on countershaft 92. A worm gear 94 on the end of countershaft 92 isin engagement with worm wheel 96 secured to the upper end of pinionshaft 76. Gear housing 98 is removably secured by studs 100 to supportbase 80.

A stop indicated generally at 104 extends through an opening 105 invalve body 12 and has a lower portion 106 within valve cavity 14. Studs108 secure stop 104 to valve body 12. As shown in FIG. 1, rib 112 onvalve ball engages stop portion 106 in the open position of valve ball20. Upon rotation of valve ball 20 to the closed position shown in FIG.2, rib 114 engages stop 104. Thus, valve ball 20 may be accuratelypositioned in both the open and closed positions of the ball valvestructure 12.

The gear ratios may be suitably designed to provide the desiredmechanical advantage. However, particularly with large diameter valvesover 24 inches a mechanical advantage of around five to one or more isdesirable. As valve ball 20 rotates only ninety degrees, the pinion 78would rotate about 450.

Valve ball 20 may move longitudinally in the direction of flow relativeto valve body 12 as much as around .050 inch from tolerances and thelike. To minimize the effect of such movement of valve ball 20 on thetolerance between sector gear 60 and pinion 78, pinion 78 is positionedalong the transverse axis of valve body 12. Thus, the spacing of sectorgear 60 from the rotational axis of pinion 78 remains substantiallyconstant upon any longitudinal movement of valve ball 20.

What is claimed is:

1. A ball valve structure comprising a valve body having a valve chambertherein and upstream and downstream flow passages in communication withthe valve chamber, a valve ball mounted within the valve chamber andforming a body cavity between the valve ball and the valve body,trunnions on opposed ends of the valve ball on which the valve ball ismounted for rotation, a gear segment within the body cavity mounted onthe outer surface of the valve ball adjacent one of the trunnions inlaterally spaced relation thereto, said valve body having an openingtherethrough adjacent said gear segment and spaced from said adjacenttrunnion in a direction extending transversely of the longitudinal axisof the flow passages, a housing fitting within the opening anddetachably secured to the valve body, a shaft mounted within saidopening for rotation and having a pinion on its inner end positionedwithin the body cavity and in engagement with the gear segment, theouter diameter of the pinion being less than the outer diameter of thehousing whereby upon detachment of the housing the pinion and shaft maybe axially removed from the valve cavity through the opening, and powermeans for rotating said shaft thereby to rotate the valve ball betweenopen and closed positions.

2. A ball valve structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said trunnionsare of substantially identical proportions and said valve body hasopposed openings receiving the trunnions, and means detachably connectthe trunnions to the valve body.

3. A ball valve structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said housingincludes a support plate adjacent its outer end and said power means ismounted on said support plate.

4. A ball valve structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said valvebody has an opening through its wall receiving a stop to engage andposition the valve ball in the open and closed positions thereof.

5. A ball valve structure comprising a valve body having a chambertherein and upstream and downstream flow passages in communication withthe valve chamber, a valve ball mounted within the valve chamber andforming a body cavity between the valve ball and the valve body,trunnions on opposed ends of the valve ball mounting the valve ball forrotation, a gear segment within the body cavity on the outer surface ofthe valve ball adjacent one of the trunnions in laterally spacedrelation thereto, said valve body having an opening therethrough spacedfrom said adjacent trunnion and extending into said body cavity, a shaftmounted for rotation within said opening and having a gear thereonwithin the body cavity and in engagement with the gear segment, andpower means for rotating said shaft thereby to rotate the valve ballbetween open and closed positions.

1. A ball valve structure comprising a valve body having a valve chambertherein and upstream and downstream flow passages in communication withthe valve chamber, a valve ball mounted within the valve chamber andforming a body cavity between the valve ball and the valve body,trunnions on opposed ends of the valve ball on which the valve ball ismounted for rotation, a gear segment within the body cavity mounted onthe outer surface of the valve ball adjacent one of the trunnions inlaterally spaced relation thereto, said valve body having an openingtherethrough adjacent said gear segment and spaced from said adjacenttrunnion in a direction extending transversely of the longitudinal axisof the flow passages, a housing fitting within the opening anddetachably secured to the valve body, a shaft mounted within saidopening for rotation and having a pinion on its inner end positionedwithin the body cavity and in engagement with the gear segment, theouter diameter of the pinion being less than the outer diameter of thehousing whereby upon detachment of the housing the pinion and shaft maybe axially removed from the valve cavity through the opening, and powermeans for rotating said shaft thereby to rotate the valve ball betweenopen and closed positions.
 2. A ball valve structure as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said trunnions are of substantially identicalproportions and said valve body has opposed openings receiving thetrunnions, and means detachably connect the trunnions to the valve body.3. A ball valve structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said housingincludes a support plate adjacent its outer end and said power means ismounted on said support plate.
 4. A ball valve structure as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said valve body has an opening through its wallreceiving a stop to engage and position the valve ball in the open andclosed positions thereof.
 5. A ball valve structure comprising a valvebody having a chamber therein and upstream and downstream floW passagesin communication with the valve chamber, a valve ball mounted within thevalve chamber and forming a body cavity between the valve ball and thevalve body, trunnions on opposed ends of the valve ball mounting thevalve ball for rotation, a gear segment within the body cavity on theouter surface of the valve ball adjacent one of the trunnions inlaterally spaced relation thereto, said valve body having an openingtherethrough spaced from said adjacent trunnion and extending into saidbody cavity, a shaft mounted for rotation within said opening and havinga gear thereon within the body cavity and in engagement with the gearsegment, and power means for rotating said shaft thereby to rotate thevalve ball between open and closed positions.